Lando Norris trimmed teammate Oscar Piastri's Formula One championship lead to 25 points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, but the Briton failed to take full advantage of Piastri's early crash as Max Verstappen dominated the race for Red Bull.

Verstappen claimed his fourth win of the season and his second in a row, underlining a Red Bull resurgence that has raised concern within McLaren. Although Verstappen remains 69 points behind Piastri with seven races left, his pace suggested he could yet re-enter the title fight.

Drivers compete during the race of the 2025 Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 21, 2025. (Photo by Tofik Babayev/Xinhua)

For Piastri, the weekend was a rare misstep in an otherwise consistent campaign. The Australian had already crashed in qualifying, and his race unraveled before the start when he jumped the lights and then faltered, forcing him to the back of the pack. Just five corners later, he attempted an ambitious move around the outside of Esteban Ocon's Haas, but lost grip and slid into the barrier.

That left the door open for Norris, but the Briton was unable to rise from his seventh place on the grid and gained only six points, after losing ground on the opening lap to Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar.

McLaren extended Norris' first stint to set up a late charge on fresher tires, but a slow right-front wheel change cost him precious time in the pits. It was his second consecutive botched stop, following similar issues at Monza that sparked debate over McLaren's team orders.

When Norris rejoined, he found himself trapped in a tight train of cars behind Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, who produced one of the drives of the day. Lawson, who started third, resisted pressure from Yuki Tsunoda, Norris and Lewis Hamilton over the final 10 laps, with none able to make a pass as the New Zealander took a career-best fifth place finish.

"Lawson defended brilliantly," Norris said. "We tried to use the strategy but the pit stop didn't help, and once you're in that DRS train it's almost impossible."

While McLaren endured a frustrating weekend, Mercedes and Williams capitalized. George Russell, still recovering from illness, executed a long first stint on hard tires and climbed from fifth to finish second. Russell's Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli took fourth after delivering the clean race his bosses had demanded.

Carlos Sainz secured third for Williams after starting a surprise second on the grid, giving the Grove outfit its first podium since the rain-shortened 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. Having endured a difficult year since moving to Williams from Ferrari, Sainz called the result one of the highlights of his career.

"Honestly can't describe how happy I am and how good this feels," Sainz said. "Today we nailed the race, not one mistake, and we beat a lot of cars we weren't expecting to."

Russell praised both Sainz and his own team after a draining weekend. "Congrats to Carlos and Williams - amazing result for them," Russell said. "For us, we're happy to be back on the podium. It's been a rough few days for me physically, so I was pretty glad to see the chequered flag."

Hamilton trailed home in eighth after Ferrari instructed Leclerc to let him through in the closing laps. Hadjar rounded out the top 10 to earn his first point in F1.

At the front, Verstappen controlled the race from the opening laps. With slower cars separating him from the McLarens, he managed his hard tires carefully before switching to mediums and also claimed the fastest lap.

"This weekend has been incredible for us," Verstappen said. "The car was working beautifully. [The next race at] Singapore will be a different challenge with high downforce, but the last two weekends have been amazing."

McLaren had arrived in Baku on the brink of sealing the Constructors' Championship, but that celebration will be delayed after a messy weekend that left the team facing renewed pressure from Red Bull.

The next round of the 2025 F1 World Championship is the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 5.